Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed the country's military to “prepare to defend” the Druze inhabitants of Jaramana city near Syria’s capital Damascus.

This came in a new escalation by Netanyahu's government against the new administration in Syria, which is demanding an end to the ongoing Israeli violations of the country's sovereignty.

Jaramana, located approximately 60 kilometres (37.2 miles) from the Israeli border, is a diverse city, home to Druze, Christians, and both Sunni and Shia Muslims.

A statement issued by Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz’s office claimed that Jaramana is “currently under attack by the forces of the Syrian regime.”

If the Syrian administration “harms the Druze, it will be struck by us,” Katz added.

On Friday evening, the city experienced security tensions that resulted in the killing of a Syrian security officer by an armed militia linked to the former regime, known as "Jaramana Shield."

‘We have never asked for protection’

Rabie Munzer, a member of the Jaramana Civil Action Group, rejected Israeli intervention in the city's events during televised remarks.

"We have lived in Jaramana for hundreds of years, and from anyone. What protects us is the Syrian social fabric, of which we consider ourselves an integral part,” he stated.

Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia on Dec. 8, ending the Baath Party’s regime, which had been in power since 1963.

The next day, Ahmed Alsharaa, the leader of the new Syrian administration, who was appointed president on January 29, tasked Mohammed Al Bashir with forming a government to oversee Syria’s transitional period.

After the fall of the Assad regime, Israel expanded its occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights by seizing the demilitarised buffer zone, a move that violated the 1974 disengagement agreement with Syria.

It also intensified air strikes targeting Syrian military positions across the country.